drop hammer

drop hammer
    n 1: device for making large forgings [syn: {drop forge}, {drop
         hammer}, {drop press}]
    

Hammer \Ham"mer\ (h[a^]m"m[~e]r), n. [OE. hamer, AS. hamer,
   hamor; akin to D. hamer, G. & Dan. hammer, Sw. hammare, Icel.
   hamarr, hammer, crag, and perh. to Gr. 'a`kmwn anvil, Skr.
   a[,c]man stone.]
   1. An instrument for driving nails, beating metals, and the
      like, consisting of a head, usually of steel or iron,
      fixed crosswise to a handle.
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            With busy hammers closing rivets up.  --Shak.
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   2. Something which in form or action resembles the common
      hammer; as:
      (a) That part of a clock which strikes upon the bell to
          indicate the hour.
      (b) The padded mallet of a piano, which strikes the wires,
          to produce the tones.
      (c) (Anat.) The malleus. See under {Ear}.
      (d) (Gun.) That part of a gunlock which strikes the
          percussion cap, or firing pin; the cock; formerly,
          however, a piece of steel covering the pan of a
          flintlock musket and struck by the flint of the cock
          to ignite the priming.
      (e) Also, a person or thing that smites or shatters; as,
          St. Augustine was the hammer of heresies.
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                He met the stern legionaries [of Rome] who had
                been the "massive iron hammers" of the whole
                earth.                            --J. H.
                                                  Newman.
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   3. (Athletics) A spherical weight attached to a flexible
      handle and hurled from a mark or ring. The weight of head
      and handle is usually not less than 16 pounds.
      [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

   {Atmospheric hammer}, a dead-stroke hammer in which the
      spring is formed by confined air.

   {Drop hammer}, {Face hammer}, etc. See under {Drop}, {Face},
      etc.

   {Hammer fish}. See {Hammerhead}.

   {Hammer hardening}, the process of hardening metal by
      hammering it when cold.

   {Hammer shell} (Zool.), any species of {Malleus}, a genus of
      marine bivalve shells, allied to the pearl oysters, having
      the wings narrow and elongated, so as to give them a
      hammer-shaped outline; -- called also {hammer oyster}.

   {To bring to the hammer}, to put up at auction.
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Drop \Drop\ (dr[o^]p), n. [OE. drope, AS. dropa; akin to OS.
   dropo, D. drop, OHG. tropo, G. tropfen, Icel. dropi, Sw.
   droppe; and Fr. AS. dre['o]pan to drip, drop; akin to OS.
   driopan, D. druipen, OHG. triofan, G. triefen, Icel.
   drj[=u]pa. Cf. {Drip}, {Droop}.]
   1. The quantity of fluid which falls in one small spherical
      mass; a liquid globule; a minim; hence, also, the smallest
      easily measured portion of a fluid; a small quantity; as,
      a drop of water.
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            With minute drops from off the eaves. --Milton.
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            As dear to me as are the ruddy drops
            That visit my sad heart.              -- Shak.
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            That drop of peace divine.            --Keble.
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   2. That which resembles, or that which hangs like, a liquid
      drop; as a hanging diamond ornament, an earring, a glass
      pendant on a chandelier, a sugarplum (sometimes
      medicated), or a kind of shot or slug.
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   3. (Arch.)
      (a) Same as {Gutta}.
      (b) Any small pendent ornament.
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   4. Whatever is arranged to drop, hang, or fall from an
      elevated position; also, a contrivance for lowering
      something; as:
      (a) A door or platform opening downward; a trap door; that
          part of the gallows on which a culprit stands when he
          is to be hanged; hence, the gallows itself.
      (b) A machine for lowering heavy weights, as packages,
          coal wagons, etc., to a ship's deck.
      (c) A contrivance for temporarily lowering a gas jet.
      (d) A curtain which drops or falls in front of the stage
          of a theater, etc.
      (e) A drop press or drop hammer.
      (f) (Mach.) The distance of the axis of a shaft below the
          base of a hanger.
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   5. pl. Any medicine the dose of which is measured by drops;
      as, lavender drops.
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   6. (Naut.) The depth of a square sail; -- generally applied
      to the courses only. --Ham. Nav. Encyc.
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   7. Act of dropping; sudden fall or descent.
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   {Ague drop}, {Black drop}. See under {Ague}, {Black}.

   {Drop by drop}, in small successive quantities; in repeated
      portions. "Made to taste drop by drop more than the
      bitterness of death." --Burke.

   {Drop curtain}. See {Drop}, n., 4.
      (d) .

   {Drop forging}. (Mech.)
      (a) A forging made in dies by a drop hammer.
      (b) The process of making drop forgings.

   {Drop hammer} (Mech.), a hammer for forging, striking up
      metal, etc., the weight being raised by a strap or similar
      device, and then released to drop on the metal resting on
      an anvil or die.

   {Drop kick} (Football), a kick given to the ball as it
      rebounds after having been dropped from the hands.

   {Drop lake}, a pigment obtained from Brazil wood. --Mollett.

   {Drop letter}, a letter to be delivered from the same office
      where posted.

   {Drop press} (Mech.), a drop hammer; sometimes, a dead-stroke
      hammer; -- also called drop.

   {Drop scene}, a drop curtain on which a scene is painted. See
      {Drop}, n., 4.
      (d) .

   {Drop seed}. (Bot.) See the List under {Glass}.

   {Drop serene}. (Med.) See {Amaurosis}.
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